The effect of asbestos and stone-wool fibres on some chemokines and redox system of pulmonary alveolar macrophages and pneumocytes type II.

The in vitro effect of stone-wool has been studied in primary cultures of pulmonary alveolar macrophages (AM) and type II pneumocytes (T2) by morphological, biochemical and immunological methods. UICC crocidolite was applied as a positive control. Although stone-wool brought about frustrated phagocytosis, it did not induce serious membrane damage, whereas crocidolite gave rise to very severe membrane alterations. Stone-wool significantly reduced the activity of Cu,Zn/superoxide dismutase (SOD) in alveolar macrophages and significantly decreased the activity of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) in pneumocytes type II. Crocidolite, on the other hand, decreased the activity of all enzymes (glutathione peroxidase - GSH-Px, glutathione reductase - GSH-Rd) of glutathione metabolism in alveolar macrophages. It decreased the activity of all enzymes in pneumocytes type II except for Cu,Zn/SOD. After exposure to stone-wool, the production of inflammatory proteins, macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inhibitory protein-1α (MIP-1α) increased in both cultured cells but did not reach the level induced by crocidolite. Although this study provided a useful insight in the toxicity of the stone-wool, we can not draw the conclusions how the intact pulmonary tissue may respond on the exposure to these fibres, exclusively based on the in vitro tests.